Last several decades have sparked a tremendous interest in mechanical properties of low dimensional systems specifically 1D and 2D nanomaterials, in large, due to their remarkable behavior and potential to possess unique and customizable physical properties, which have encouraged the fabrication of new structures to be tuned and utilized for targeted applications. In this critical review we discuss examples that represent evolution of the mechanical characterization techniques developed for 1D and 2D nanomaterials, with special emphasis on specimen fabrication and manipulation, and the different strategies, tools and metrologies, employed for precise positioning and accurate measurements of materials’ strength, elastic modulus, fracture toughness as well as analysis of failure modes. We focus separately on techniques for the mechanical characterization of 1D and 2D nanomaterials and categorize those methods into top-down and bottom-up approaches. Finally, we discuss advantages and some drawbacks in most common methodologies used for 1D and 2D specimen testing and outline future possibilities and potential paths that could boost the development of more universal approaches for technologically viable solutions which would allow for more streamlined and standardized mechanical testing protocols to be developed and implemented.

过去的几十年引起了人们对低维系统的机械性能的极大兴趣，特别是一维和二维纳米材料，在很大程度上，由于它们的显着行为和拥有独特和可定制的物理特性的潜力，这鼓励了新结构的制造进行调整并用于目标应用。在这篇批判性评论中，我们讨论了代表为 1D 和 2D 纳米材料开发的机械表征技术演变的例子，特别强调样品的制造和操作，以及用于精确定位和准确测量材料的不同策略、工具和计量学强度、弹性模量、断裂韧性以及失效模式分析。我们分别关注一维和二维纳米材料的机械表征技术，并将这些方法分为自上而下和自下而上的方法。最后，我们讨论了用于 1D 和 2D 试样测试的最常见方法的优缺点，并概述了未来的可能性和潜在路径，这些方法可以促进技术可行解决方案的更通用方法的开发，这将允许更简化和标准化的机械测试协议有待开发和实施。